Title 29 — LaborRelease 119-73

§1109 Liability for breach of fiduciary duty

Title 29 › Chapter CHAPTER 18— - EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY PROGRAM › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RIGHTS › Subtitle Subtitle B— - Regulatory Provisions › Part part 4— - fiduciary responsibility › § 1109

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

If a person who runs or controls a benefit plan breaks their duties, they must personally pay for any losses to the plan and return any profits they got from using plan assets. A court can also order other fair remedies, including removing that person for certain violations. No one is responsible for a breach that happened before they became in charge or after they stopped.

Full Legal Text

Title 29, §1109

Labor — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any person who is a fiduciary with respect to a plan who breaches any of the responsibilities, obligations, or duties imposed upon fiduciaries by this subchapter shall be personally liable to make good to such plan any losses to the plan resulting from each such breach, and to restore to such plan any profits of such fiduciary which have been made through use of assets of the plan by the fiduciary, and shall be subject to such other equitable or remedial relief as the court may deem appropriate, including removal of such fiduciary. A fiduciary may also be removed for a violation of section 1111 of this title.

(b)No fiduciary shall be liable with respect to a breach of fiduciary duty under this subchapter if such breach was committed before he became a fiduciary or after he ceased to be a fiduciary.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

29 U.S.C. § 1109

Title 29 — Labor

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73